DETAILS

Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. Ephesians 4:2-3

When I tell my husband John a story, I give an overall synopsis. He stops me quite often to ask why, who, where, what, or when. He wants all the holes filled in. I must admit, my stories do have holes, yet his interruptions distract from the point of the story. This is exasperating to me.

At the same time, John’s stories have so many details that I can’t stay focused. I want him to get to the point. I actually create holes in his story with my easily distracted mind. This is exasperating him.

So here we are, an older couple married for nearly 50 years, still working to assimilate to each other’s idiosyncrasies. This is what two sinful people working on their relationship together looks like.

When we have a relationship with Christ, the Bible says that we are the bride and Jesus is the bridegroom. Isaiah 54:5 says,  “For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.” Yet our life as a Christian is a growing process. God wants us to be all we were meant to be, and He is definitely into details.  Laboring in love, He molds and makes us into His likeness, to make every spiritual element just right.

We resist His work, at times, by not paying full attention or by adding our two cents. He is patient with us, though, knowing that there is much to be accomplished to make us like Him.

All earthly bonds take effort. Our relationship with our Father takes effort as we assimilate to His likeness. Like a sponge, we absorb and become saturated in His love. Eventually, Godly qualities of humbleness, patience, gentleness, and kindness spill out to our earthly companions unifying us in a spirit of peace and a bond of love. As our connection to Christ grows stronger, our relational connections grow stronger also.

Dear Father, Thank you for never giving up on the task of making us like You. In Christ Jesus I pray, Amen.